The Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP) was organized in late 1998 as a membership organization for public entity risk and benefits pools in North America. It is a successor to the Pooling Section that operated for nearly 20 years under the auspices of the Public Risk Management Association.

The AGRiP Sourcebook lists close to 500 public entity pools that are eligible for membership in the association. These pools provide a wide range of property, casualty, workers’ compensation and employee benefits programs for their members.

Pools encompass the full spectrum of public entity organizations including state agencies, higher education, public or common education, all forms of local governments (cities, towns, townships, boroughs, counties, parishes, etc.), a vast array of "governmental" special districts, including health care facilities, and not-for-profit organizations.

AGRiP was created for the following purposes:

• To promote pooling as a practical extension of local government’s obligation to be a good steward of public funds.
• To act as an advocate for the advancement of intergovernmental pooling as the most appropriate risk and employee benefits financing mechanism for most local governments.
• To provide a forum for intergovernmental issues of mutual interest in the administration and operation of self-funded and group insurance purchasing programs, and other group programs associated with the funding and operation of intergovernmental pools.
• To identify legislative and regulatory issues affecting intergovernmental pools and to provide information to assist pools in addressing such issues.
• To act as a clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of data and resources relating to intergovernmental pools and to encourage and support new research for tomorrow’s pools.

To provide meaningful and significant education and professional support for the members, governing bodies and staffs of intergovernmental pools. The nine-member AGRiP Board of Directors operates under the Carver Policy Governance™ process. Besides addressing the process by which AGRiP operates, the board’s governance policies also set forth how the organization is to achieve its original purposes through a set of Ends statements as follows:

• VISION STATEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION "As the recognized authority on and resource for information on intergovernmental pools, AGRiP is the leading national association for pool management. As a result of our efforts, the pooling community is united to achieve excellence in pool governance, management and services."
• EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT "As a result of our efforts, members will have information, knowledge and skills necessary to effectively govern and manage their pools."
• MEMBER SATISFACTION "As a result of our efforts, members will have confidence that their common needs are addressed and represented with dependability, reliability and professionalism."
• ADVOCACY "As a result of our efforts, members will have an effective advocate for the advancement and promotion of pooling."